Soldiers of God (Chapter 10, page 1 of 2)

Li Wu was one of three hundred million Chinese who now belonged to an evangelical Christian movement. Twelve hours a day in a factory, an elder father, and a baby had left her and her husband little time to practice their religion outside of work. So she practiced it while working.

It was easy. Her job was largely repetitive. Also, she was good at it. So there was not much need to think about what she was doing as far as work went. Instead, she would pray and think of her bible lessons, trying to relate them to her life. In some ways, she was happy. Then the factory workers went on strike.

It didn't matter that she voted against the strike. The strikers closed the factory and pranced up and down in front with signs calling for more medical benefits and better wages. As usual, the factory owners called for help from the government.

The symbiosis between the so-called Communist government and the largely uncontrolled capitalism of China was at a peak. It was good for both the government and the capitalists, but the factory workers were not very well off. Many of the latter were stoic about it, but more and more were unhappy enough to show it in a variety of ways. Oddly enough, those in power blamed the Christians, even though most of them were like Li. They were a minority in China so they became a convenient scapegoat.